She admitted luring a Tri-Citian to his death. Did a disgraced lawyer ‘browbeat’ her plea?

A Spokane woman who admitted luring a Pasco father to his death in 2014 now wants to withdraw her plea, citing misconduct and bullying by her lawyer.

Mary A. Faucett says her attorney pushed her into an involuntary agreement and misled her about arguing for a lesser sentence, when she actually received more time than the standard maximum for first-degree manslaughter.

“Ms. Faucett was told she couldn’t argue (her) sentence; there was an agreement,” said Bob Thompson, Faucett’s new post-conviction attorney. “It was a complete lie.”

Thompson said the trial lawyer “browbeat” Faucett, a young mother, to get her to change her plea and now justice demands that the court right a past wrong.

The lawyer, John R. Crowley, had been hired by Faucett’s family with a $20,000 retainer.

Crowley gave up his law law license just days after Faucett was sent to prison during a Franklin County Superior Court hearing.

He had opted to permanently resign his membership in the Washington State Bar Association rather than face discipline for several findings of misconduct involving other, out-of-area defendants.

His restrictions are the same as that of a disbarred lawyer.

Evidentiary hearing

Thompson said when Crowley accepted the Franklin County case he already knew about the state bar’s investigation and that his time practicing law would be ending soon.

“Crowley promised many things for Faucett which he never did. He (misled) her about his preparation for trial ...,” Thompson wrote in his motion. “Crowley never investigated the case nor interviewed any witnesses.”

“Consequentially, he never discussed the case with Faucett concerning going to trial,” he continued. “Mary had informed me that he never disclosed the discovery provided by the state nor shared any witness interviews.”

Faucett, now 32, is serving a 10-year, 10-month term at Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor. She has an estimated early release date of February 2025, though that can change in the next few years.

Deputy Prosecutor Frank Jenny in a recent hearing argued that Faucett had been given the choice of “a very favorable plea agreement” or a potential murder conviction, and she made the rational choice.

Faucett had only those two choices, and there’s nothing about her trial attorney’s performance that in any way affected it, he said.

Judge Cameron Mitchell granted Thompson’s request for an evidentiary hearing into Faucett’s claims, but noted that it will be very focused.

The burden will be on Faucett “to establish that but for this ineffective assistance of counsel” she would not have pleaded guilty, said Mitchell.

Faucett, who will be brought back from prison to testify at the hearing, also will have to answer whether or not her plea was knowingly made, he said.

Mitchell presided over the separate plea and sentencing hearings 3 1/2 year ago and said there was a fair amount of discussion with the defendant.

“Ms. Faucett, I think, was well aware of what she was doing at the time,” said Mitchell.

However, the judge said he was allowing the hearing because there is a “reasonable probability” Faucett might not have knowingly pleaded guilty, even knowing the jeopardy she faced if the case had gone to trial.

Thompson told the court he wants Crowley to testify at the hearing, but has exhausted his efforts in tracking down the former lawyer.

“I am happy to stand down and sit down if Ms. Faucett can’t establish her claim. The truth is she can,” Thompson said. “Give her that opportunity, as a young mother who got browbeat by not only her attorney, but maybe a little bit by the system.”

Mitchell will decide after the hearing if there is enough evidence to warrant Faucett withdrawing her plea and starting the trial process over again.

Set in motion murder

The mother of two pleaded guilty in August 2017. She originally was charged with conspiracy, rendering criminal assistance and making false or misleading statements, but faced a murder charge if she’d taken the case to trial.

Her sentence was one year longer than the standard maximum and was part of the negotiated plea, according to prosecutors.

At her sentencing hearing, Faucett said she was sorry to Lorenzo “Richie” Fernandez Jr.’s family for their loss and claimed that she had cried and begged forgiveness at his gravesite.

Faucett followed Fernandez into a convenience store, got his phone number and later called him to meet up at the Stonegate Apartments in Pasco.

Then, late Dec. 3, 2014, Faucett sat in an SUV not far from the meeting spot and according to a witness had no reaction as the shots rang out that killed Fernandez.

Instead, she kept calling the victim’s cellphone so her husband and his cousin could find the phone on Fernandez and take it to avoid detection for the murder.

Prosecutors called her actions callous and said Faucett is the one who set in motion the events that led to Fernandez’s death.

Fernandez, 22, was sitting in his Ford Mustang at the apartment complex when DeShawn I. Anderson and Kenyatta K.E. Bridges approached.

Eight shots were fired into the car by Anderson.

Fernandez tried to drive away, but died in the parking lot. He left behind a young daughter and other family.

Police and prosecutors said Fernandez had been targeted in retaliation for the earlier death of Anthony Guerrero, who died after the car he was in was riddle with gunfire.

Fernandez reportedly was associated with the gang that is believed to have killed Guerrero.

‘Failure to represent’

While Crowley said there was no plan in place and things got out of control, and Faucett’s mother said her daughter believed they were there only to fight Fernandez, Faucett herself told a judge she didn’t want to make any excuses.

“I am in the wrong because I did not think of all of the what ifs. I did not once think that what ended up happening, would happen,” Faucett said during sentencing. “For that I am here today accepting my fate.”

Bridges — Faucett’s husband and the father of their kids — got 10 years and five months for manslaughter. The 31-year-old is at Airway Heights Corrections Center.

Anderson, the shooter, was sentenced to nearly 94 years for murder, assault and gun possession. The 25-year-old is at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Thompson, in the recent Franklin County hearing, said over the last three years his client Faucett has “gone up and down the ladder through the Court of Appeals.”

Now, she is returning to the trial court asking for a second chance because of Crowley’s “failure to effectively represent her,” Thompson wrote. “Ms. Faucett is aware of the potential risks of being granted a new trial but has asked my office to move forward with her motion.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 2:23 PM.